The Pastor's Daughter

Chapter Six

The night of the play was cool and crisp, the sky absolutely clear without a hint of clouds. We had to arrive an hour early, and I'd been feeling pretty bad all day about the way I'd talked to Hayley the night before. She'd ever been anything but nice to me, and I knew I'd been a complete jerk.  I saw her in the hallways between classes, and I wanted to apologise to her, but she'd slip back  into the crowd before I got the chance.
She was already at the Athaneum by the time I arrived, and I saw her talking to Mrs. Gerber and Brixton off to one side, over by the curtains. Everyone was in motion, working off nervous energy, but she seemed strangely lethargic.  She hadn't put on her costume yet-she was supposed to wear a white, flowing  dress to give that angelic appearance - and she was still wearing the sweater she'd worn at school.
Despite my trepidation at how she might react, I walked up to the three of them.
"Hey Hayley," I said. "Hello...Reverend,  Hello... Mrs. Gerber."
"Hello Ryan," Hayley said quietly.  I could tell she was thinking about the night before, too, because she didn't smile at me like she always did when she saw me. I asked if I could talk to her alone, and the two of us excused ourselves. I glanced around the stage nervously.
"I'm sorry about those things I said last night, "I began. "I know they probably hurt your feelings, and I was wrong to have said them."
She looked at me as if wondering whether to believe me.
"Did you mean those things you said?" She finally asked.
"I was just in a bad mood, that's all. I get sort of wound up sometimes."
I knew I hadn't answered her question.
"I see " she said.
She said it like the night before, then turned towards the empty seats in the audience . Again she had that sad look in her eyes.
"Look," I said, reacting for her hand.
"I'll make it up to you, I promise." Don't ask me why I said it. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the moment.
For the first time she began to smile.
"Thank you." She said, turning to face.
"Hayley?"
Hayley turned. "Yes Mrs Gerber? "
"I think we're about ready for you." Mrs Gerber was motioning with her hand.
"I've got to go," Hayley said to me.
"I know"
"Break a leg" she said.
I let go of her hand.
"We both will. I promise."
After that we had to start getting ready, and we went to our separate dressing rooms.
In the play, Anthony Andrews is amazed when she first sees the angel, which is why he goes around helping her as she shared Christmas with the less fortunate.  The first words out of Anthony's mouth are "You're beautiful," And I was supposed to say them as if I meant them from the bottom of my heart.  This is  the pivotal moment in the entire play, and it sets the tone for everything else that happens. The problem, however, was that I still hadn't nailed this line. Sure, I said the lines,  but they didn't come off convincingly,  seeing as I probably said them like anyone would when looking at Hayley,  with the exception of Brixton. It was the only scene where Mrs. Gerber had never said the word 'fabulous', so  I was nervous about it.
Hayley was still in the dressing room where the curtains finally opened. I didn't see her before hand, but that was alright. The first few scenes didn't include her anyway - they were actually about Anthony Andrews and his relationship with his daughter.
I didn't think id be too nervous when I stepped out on  stage, being that I'd rehearsed so much, but it hits you right between the eyes when it actually happens. The play house was packed, and as Mrs Gerber had predicted, they'd even set up two extra rows of seats in the back. Normally, the place sat 450, but with those seats,  there were at least another fifty people sitting down. In addition,  people were standing against the walls,  packed like sardines, but as soon as I stepped on-stage, everyone was absolutely quiet. The crowd  was mainly old ladies of the blue-haired type,  the kind that played bingo and drank bloody Mary's on Sunday brunch, though i could see Siya Nkosi sitting with all my friends near the back row. It was down right eerie, If you know what I mean, to be standing in front of them while everyone waited for me to say something.
So I did the best I could to put it out of my mind as I did the first few scenes in the play. Because she was sort of small for her age, a girl named Sandy was playing my daughter,  and we went through our scenes just as we'd rehearsed them, neither of us blew our lines, though we were spectacular or anything, and when we closed the curtains for act two, we had to quickly reset the props. This time everyone pitched in, and my fingers escaped unscathed because I avoided Timmy at all costs.  I still hadn't seen Hayley. The next thing I knew, the curtains were opening and I was back in Brixton's world, walking past storefronts and looking in windows for the music box my daughter wanted for Christmas. My back was turned away from where Hayley entered, but I heard the crowd collectively draw a breath as soon as she appeared on stage. I thought it was silent before, but now it went absolutely hush still.  Just then,  I saw Brixton's jaw quivering as he stared at her.
I readied myself to turn around, and I finally saw what it was all about.  For the first time since I'd known her, her honey-colored hair wasn't pulled into a tight bun. Instead,  it was hanging loosely,  longer than I imagined, reaching her shoulder blades.  There was a trace of glitter in her hair, and it caught the stage lights,  sparkling like a halo. Set against her flowing white dress that seemed to be tailored exactly for her,  it was absolutely amazing to behold.  She didn't look like the girl I'd grown up with or the girl I'd recently come to know.  She wore a touch of makeup,  too- not a lot- just enough to bring out the softness of her features.  She was smiling slightly, as if she were holding a secret close to her heart, just like the part called for her to do. She looked exactly like an angel.
I took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. "You're beautiful, " I finally said to her, and I think everyone in the whole auditorium -from the blue-haired ladies in front to my friends in the back row- knew that I actually meant it.
I'd nailed that line for the very first time.
To say the play was a success was to put it midly. The audience laughed, and due the audience cried, which is pretty much what they were supposed to do. But because of Hayley's presence,  it really became something special,  and I think everyone in the cast was as shocked as I was at how well the whole thing had come off. They all had that same look i did when I first saw her, and it made the play that much more powerful when they were performing their parts. We finished the first performance without a hitch, and the next evening even more people showed up, if you can believe it. Even Siya came up to me afterwards and Congratulated me.
"The two of you did good," he said.  "I'm proud of you, buddy."
While he said it, Mrs Gerber was crying out 'fabulous!' to anyone who would listen to her, repeating it over and over so much that I kept hearing it long after I went to bed that night.  I looked for Hayley after the curtains were closed for the final time, and I spotted her off to the side, standing with her father.  He had tears in his eyes, and Hayley went into his eyes and they held each other for a long time. He was stroking her hair and whispering 'my angel' to her while her eyes were closed, and even if felt myself choking up over it.
The right thing, I realized,  wasn't so bad after all.
After they finally let go of each other, Brixton proudly motioned for her to talk to the rest of the cast, and she got a boatload of congratulations from everyone backstage.  She was her normal cheerful self, but with her looking so pretty, it came across in a totally different way, at least to other people.  I stood in  the background,  watching her have her moment,  and I'll have to admit that there was a part of me that felt like old Brixton.  I couldn't help but be happy for her and a little proud as well. When she finally saw me standing off to one side, she excused herself from the others and walked over.